Oransjestad, Aruba January 14

Oransjestad Aruba January 14.

Aruba, is currently a constituted nation of the Kingdom of Netherlands and gained their autonomy in 1986. The island nation is just 18 miles off the coast of Venezuela.

This is the first port of call at this journey that we have actually visited before. This time we decided to do something completely different, and had booked tickets to the Atlantis Submarine experience. 

This submarine is not yellow, but wow we had fun!!

Diving down to 130 feet we got a fantastic close up view of the exotic marine life. Colourful tropical fish, coral fields and even a sunken ship wreck. The crew were also amazing sharing jokes and fun all the way.

After this we walked a little bit around in the city, and I remembered that the last time we been here I seen beautiful butterflies in frames at the market. I don`t normally buy lots of souverneries, but I love butterflies and had a plan to buy it this time. When we came to the market, and I seen the butterflies in the frame I just realized why I did not buy it the last time. They are beautiful, but they are not meant to be in a frame on the wall but free flying around sharing their beauty. So I could not buy it this time either.

We had a great day, but it was hot and warm as it is in the Caribbean. Back at the ship we enjoyed the sail away party as we set off to the next highlight on this cruise, the crossing of the Panama Canal. 

Ayo (Goodbye)

Next the crossing of the Panama Canal

Barbados, Bridgetown January 11 and 12.

Bridgetown Barbados January 11. and 12.   

This is our very first visit to the tropical island Barbados, and we loved it. 

Barbados is a former English colony who became an independent state in 1966, but commonwealth realm retaining Queen Elisabeth 2 as head of state.

First day we went to Boatyard beach, and the sand is amazing. Water is warm, and the sun is burning. 

We started with going out with a glass boat to snorkle at at wreck and look for turtles.

Unfortunately the boys did not see anything as they can not swim yet, but the girls and I seen turtles and beautiful fish.

We spent most at the day at the beach, and at the sunbed next to us was a nice American woman talking few words in Norwegian to us as her mother is born in Norway and later moved to New York. 

We spent the entire day at the beach, and truly had a great time. Sunbathing, kids playing football, relaxed and good life.

Next day when we entered a taxi with a group of Mormones from Utah, and one of them also spoke Norwegian with us, since he had been travelling around in Norway. Sometimes the world is really small, but most of the time I think the world is huge.We went to a mall (Limegrove), and on the way there we passed Rihanna`s house, and even though we seen her live  in Norway at the Nobel prize concert a couple of years ago, we had no idea she actually comes from Barbados.

Limegrove mall is nice and clean, but the shops were mostly Gucci and it`s like so the most interesting for us was a cafe with internet. Most of the time it is actually good to be disconnected to internet, as we probably all use it too much, but I can promise you we are all happy when we are able to read the news, stay connected to friends and for the kids to watch their favorite cartoons.

We walked to a nearby beach, but the waves where to big this day to go swimming. We sat at a beach cafe talking with locals. Most of the locals we met during these two days would not even consider to move anywhere else. We take that as a confirmation that life is good at Barbados. We for sure enjoyed our first visit, and will be happy to come back another time.

Next stop Aruba.

Ponta Delgada, Azores January 6

January 6th, and our first stop was Ponta Delgada, situated on Sao Miguel Island (with its140.000 residents) in the the Azores. The Azores are a remote Portuguese, volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. 

2 years ago we were supposed to visit this volcanic Island, but then the weather was so bad that we went to Spain (La Coruna) instead. But this time we could enter. We have felt the Ocean becoming smoother since yesterday, and the temperature now is 17C.

We did not really have a plan when we left the ship, we thought we might just wander a little around in the city. Then we met taxi driver Jose Joao Ferreira (jjftaxitour@gmail.com) driver who asked if we would like to go around the island. He offered us to see the tea plantation, liquor factory++ but we did not fancy anything until he suggested visiting a volcano with hot springs. Of course we had to do that, and off we went to Laguna des Fumas.

Our first stop was to a beach with black sand, which made a beautiful contrast to the waves. The sand is fine, and it must be even more fantastic to visit when the weather is better.

Our next stop was to buy bananas, and I have to say I never had a more tasteful banana in my life. The soil here must be very fertile, as it is green grass everywhere and you can see that even the cows have a good life. The island produce pineapples, bananas and probably every fruit they like.

Visiting Lagunas des Fumas was amazing. The ground is bubbling, the water is coming up along with lots of smoke.  Adam with his toy Peppa Pig were specially excited to see all the muddy puddles, and was really tempted to let his mascot jump.

It was really interesting, but the smell….was like Iceland for those of you who are familiar with that…

At one point Daniel, who held his nose most of the time, looked at me and said: «I will never ever ask to see a volcano again. I had no idea it smells like this».

Another local speciality is to cook food slowly in the ground. Meat and vegetables are placed down to be boiled for about 6 hours, and then be transported to local restaurants. And it tastes delicious as we were to find out around lunch time.

The architecture here is cute, and there are lots of churches, and we also visited one.. Majority here are Chatolics, and for some reason all the churches seem to be painted black and white.

Most of the day we were out, and we came back to the ship quite wet, but very happy.

Obrigado.

Next stop will be Barbados.

Aurora webcam today we are crossing the Panama Canal

http://www.pocruises.com/cruise-ships/aurora/webcam/

We left Southampton January 2.

Finally we have a kind of internet connection, so I will try to update the blog.

It is always weird to publish something after it is done, but never mind, here we are sweating at Barbados trying to explain how we left Southampton.

It was great fun to catch up with Nicky and MJ. 

Watching the firework as we sailed out from Southampton was amazing.

Some rough sea days for some of us….

Still a good time.

Finally the ocean calmed down, we are having a great time together,  food is good and now stays...
as we were heading towards our next stop Ponta Delgada in the Azores.

We are ready for our next adventure.

We left happy days in Spain with my mother, going back to Norway to unpack and repack suitcases.

What a great surprise for the boys (and of course for me, but I knew) that Helene would meet us at the airport in Norway. The boys had no idea that she would be there, as they thought we would meet up later. Last time we seen her was in the summer, before she went to her studies.

Next day, New Years Eve, we finished our grapes and beer, so hopefully 2016 will be an amazing year.

January 1. we met up with Anna at the airport, and we could finally fly to England all of us.

There is no greater feeling than to have all my children around me, and don`t get me wrong, it is loud, they are not always friends, but we are a family and at the end of the day it makes life interesting and fun.

With all the suitcases we were happy to be met by our driver at the airport, taking us to our hotel in Southampton.

Had a great dinner at the hotel, and went to sleep early, and o´happiness, for breakfast the hotel had a pancake machine.

Today is when the fun really begins. After breakfast we went swimming at the hotel, soon we will have lunch, and then we are ready for the taxi to come and take us and all our suitcases to the ship. We have been looking forward for this day so long, that it almost does not feel real that we are finally here.

I am so thankful to life, family and good friends who give us so much fun to look forward too.
Next stop Portugal.

Christmas in Spain

We are back in Spain to celebrate Christmas this year. 

In the summer we been here for a month and it was hot hot hot as it was a heathwave with up to 44C. That is not the case at this time of year, as the temperature is more to be around 15-18 C. Still very pleasant, specially compared to the ice and cold we left behind in Norway.

                                 

It lives around 48 million people in Spain, and 94% are Roman Catholic. 

As of 2015 it was 4,6 million foreign born residing in Spain (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_to_Spain) with Romanians being the 

The number of tourists coming to Spain is more than 60 million a year, and it is easy to understand why. (http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL)

From our experience it is very child friendly, as well as a good place to be for adults. We are staying close to Torrevieja, where more than half the population is not Spanish. There are lots of British as well as Scandinavians. Rumor has it that this house belongs to Gorbatsjov, but personally I have not seen him at the bar....

The Spaniards Christmas Traditions (according to www.qrmagazine.es) are; 

At Christmas Eve they will have  dinner with their family and some will attend the their local church to observe the "Misa del Gallo" (Mass of the Rooster) so named after a rooster which supposedly called out to announce the birth of Jesus. 

At Christmas Day many families dine out, and the next big celebration is New Years Eve (Noche Vieja). Many Spaniards party all night, and one tradition is to eat 12 whole grapes at midnight, as every grape swallowed will supposedly bring a month`s worth of good luck.

The next celebration is Kings Day Parades (Dia de Los Reyes) which falls on 6th January, and are by many seen as the most important date in the festive calendar. On the evening the 5th, there will be a grand procession through the streets throwing sweets to the children, and at the morning the 6th the children will find that their presents has been delivered by the Kings.

As much as I love to see new places and countries, it is also nice to return to the same area again.Meeting up with people we have know, and going back to places we like. We have found our favorites among the cafes where we can have fruit dipped in chocolate, a clear winner for us:) 

 Kids have been playing at the beach, which is actually much more pleasant now than in the summer when the sand and sun was burning.

                                        Daniel got karate lesson, which he really enjoyed.

We went to the movies seeing the newest Star War, which I also truly enjoyed.

Kids got back to their favorite play area at La Zenja:

We have spent lots of time outdoor

                                          Exploring the area.

Traveling with children is fun, but far from relaxing. .

We are having great days, and like to wish you all a very happy New Year.

                                                                  ¡FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!